Review: ‘Partita 2,’ Bach in the Dark

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Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker dancing with Boris Charmatz to music by the violinist Amandine Beyer in "Partita 2" at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College as part of Lincoln Center's White Light FestivalCreditCreditAndrea Mohin/The New York Times

Bach in the dark, as performed by Ms. Beyer at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, is a ravishing, playful, mysterious, candid thing, at once a simple offering (here, take this) and a heady puzzle (now figure it out). That describes much of “Partita 2,” a duet by Ms. De Keersmaeker for herself and the French dance artist Boris Charmatz — or really, as it evolves, a trio for them and Ms. Beyer.

In its starkness and seductiveness, and the tension between those two, the work fits right in with the best of Ms. De Keersmaeker’s repertoire. Created in 2013, three decades into her career, it also bristles with references to her previous dances, a digest of the past that’s also effervescently new. There’s the love of circles first explored in “Violin Phase” (1982); shimmies and kicks and scoots that recall “Drumming” (1998) and “Rain” (2001); the gradual brightening from “Cesena” (2011), which also began in darkness; and the deep, perennial investigation of music through movement, and vice versa.

The structure may seem straightforward, but it unfolds with a wonderful sense of discovery. After Ms. Beyer’s solo, the dancers dance in silence (and in growing light, designed by Michel François); then Ms. Beyer returns, repeating the partita as the dancers recycle and riff on much of what we’ve seen.

The sneaker-clad pair, as nimble as Ms. Beyer’s bow skipping across the strings, appear immersed in a children’s game or surreal sporting event. They walk and run in circles, one trailing the other, or amble off on their own and unexpectedly reunite. Ms. De Keersmaeker slings Mr. Charmatz over her back; he lifts her horizontally so she can walk across a wall. They also sing, a solemn chant, which is nothing much the first time but chilling when it recurs in harmony with Ms. Beyer, one of the evening’s many pleasing confluences.

Ms. De Keersmaeker knew that she was dealing with a dense, prodigious score. “Isn’t this too ambitious, wanting to turn this music into choreography?” she asks in an interview in the program. But she meets that music with great levity, creating something much lighter, in the end, than it is dark.